The country’s Covid positivity ratio stood at 11.31% over the last 24 hours, according to National Command and Operation Centre data, as numbers of people affected by the Omicron variant continue to rise.

This surge in cases is a stark reminder of how even though the symptoms from the Omicron variant may be mild, it definitely is not a variant to be taken lightly. On January 6, World Health Organisation officials said the more infectious Omicron variant of Covid-19 appears to produce less severe disease than the globally dominant Delta strain, but should not be categorised as “mild”.

Moreover, WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, on January 6, told a press briefing that “While Omicron does appear to be less severe compared to Delta, especially in those vaccinated, it does not mean it should be categorised as ‘mild’.”

Such statements have brought medical experts to a conclusion that the new variant does have the potential to hospitalise people and contracting it can lead to death. NCOC has shown similar concerns, where in a November 29 press conference, the centre said that it feared the inevitable arrival of the Omicron variant and asked people to “immediately get vaccinated.”

Statistics (January 29) as per NCOC’s daily update shared on Twitter:

Total tests in last 24 hours: 70,389; positive cases: 7,963; positivity %: 11.31%; deaths: 27; patients in critical care: 1,375.

The countrywide Covid tally showed that Sindh reported the highest number of cases, 538,196, followed by Punjab with 474,208 then Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa 190,578. It showed that Islamabad reported 125,203 cases, Balochistan 34,277, Azad Jammu and Kashmir 36,967, and Gilgit Baltistan 10,604.

The forum, which serves as the centre of the country’s unified efforts to contain the spread of novel coronavirus, on Friday announced that existing non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) announced for January 31, 2022, have been extended till February 15, 2022. A fresh review would be carried out on Feb 10, 2022.

It also shared the data of Covid-19 positivity ratio in big cities and urged people to opt for the necessary booster dose.